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Tags: hard-drive   backup   external-hdd  
Link: πŸ” See Original Answer on Ask Ubuntu ⧉ πŸ”—

URL: https://askubuntu.com/q/1032562
Title: Exact Copy (Backup) of Full Directory Tree To External (Backup) Drive
ID: /2018/05/05/Exact-Copy-_Backup_-of-Full-Directory-Tree-To-External-_Backup_-Drive
Created: May 5, 2018
Upload: March 26, 2024    Layout:  post
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Most backup programs compress data to specialized backup archives. Special search tools are required to locate files withing backup archives and special commands must be used to retrieve backup files.

If you only want an exact copy of files consider the rsync command.

Borrowing from this answer: Bash script to clone Ubuntu to new partition for testing 18.04 LTS upgrade here is how to clone a full 16.04 installation:

rsync -haxAX --stats --delete --info=progress2 --info=name0 /* "$TargetMnt" \
      --exclude={/dev/*,/proc/*,/sys/*,/tmp/*,/run/*,/mnt/*,/media/*,/lost+found}

Some notable comments about parameters:

As with all backup scenarios always test the backups to make sure all files are there and contain the appropriate information.

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